The pejibaye, Bactris gasipaes H.B.K., is an important fruit common insome areas of the American Tropics and unknown in others. It is a palm nativeto South American forests, and was introduced to Central America in pre-Columbian times, but is still seldom found in the Caribbean and other tropicalareas. The palm has several spiny trunks that each bear several multifruitedpanicles yearly. The fruits contain a single seed. The trees are usuallypropagated from seeds, but better techniques are needed to preserve selectedtrees as clones. The trees are adapted to a wide variety of tropical soils andclimates, and so far, few important diseases have been found. When mature,the fruits are harvested by a variety of techniques, none of which is verysatisfactory. Harvested fruit is easily damaged and damaged fruits rot rapidly.Mature fruits are boiled, and the pulp is eaten fresh, made into a meal, or macerated to make a drink. The seed is also edible. The palm cabbage is alsoharvested, usually from old trunks that are being removed anyway
Publication year
1980
Authors
Language
English
Keywords
tropics, taxonomy, botany, cultivation, uses, nutritive value, tropical fruits, bactris gasipaes
